by Ridgley Goldsborough

Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

Thou Shall Exercise Discipline.

Discipline: the willingness to stay on task, avoid distractions and do what must be done regardless of the circumstances. Those who understand the absolute requirement of disciplined thought and action do what they need to do, regardless of whether they feel like it or not, are in the mood or not, have a hangover or a cold, it rains, shines or otherwise.

In a world replete with wasted talent, an average disciplined individual will win out over an undisciplined superstar every time. As bestselling author, H. Jackson Brown, once said: “Talent without discipline is like an octopus on roller skates. There is a whole lot of movement—you just don’t know if you’re moving forward, backwards or sideways.”

Discipline means that you get up and make the phone calls.  You cross the “i”s and dot the “t”s. You do today what others won’t do, to have tomorrow what others only dream about.

The enemy of discipline is entitlement.  The entitled person believes that because of their birthright, ethnicity, last name, socio-economic upbringing or any other outside factor, that they should be given more than they rightfully earn.  They expect handouts and look to assign blame or circumstances on others when plans don’t go their way.  They seldom take responsibility, and avoid accountability all together.

Discipline counters this foe directly. If you do the work, you get paid.  If you don’t, you starve. Put your pants on one leg at a time like the rest of the world and hit the pavement, one step in front of the other. Prospect, and you will make sales. Don’t prospect, and you won’t. Prospect extra, and you will make more sales. Continue—and you will set records. Disciplined people do first things first while the scattered majority follows their whims.

Writers must write.
Singers must sing.
Salesmen must sell.
Business owners must network.

And all of the above, to maximize their success, must do their core activities in a disciplined way, using disciplined thinking.

Disciplined thinking means that you assess the risks and rewards that accompany an activity; and in a methodical, deliberate fashion, determine which of those risks are under our control and which are not.  Instead of acting in any type of brash way, it requests that you then figure out which of those risks can be brought from out of to under our control; or can at least be influenced in our favor. Then—and only then—does the disciplined thinker act.

Note that patience and temperance assist the disciplined thinker, as does a properly conceived plan.  Too often, new business owners in particular, confuse activity with productivity. Activity alone makes you tired;  productivity gets you paid. The disciplined thinker understands that prior to charging out the door to make sales, the way to success starts with preparation, due diligence, identifying the customers’ needs and finding ways to meet them. Discipline also involves sticking to the plan, executing it and evaluating the results afterwards—not changing direction mid-stream.

All great teams take disciplined action toward their goals. Other teams, often with far more talent, may win a few games until the lack of discipline catches up with them and they fall.

In business, a failure to exercise discipline is the kiss of death. Without discipline, activity cannot be measured. Without measured activity, the source of positive results cannot be tracked. Without tracking, company personnel run all over the place in different directions. No one can point to the successful actions that bear repeating.  Some take undeserved credit; others circle aimlessly without producing. The ensuing chaos will bring any operation down.

Discipline equals and demands accountability—to oneself, the team and the company goals. What is your part and are you playing it? How are you keeping track? What else could you add? There are three “i”s in the word “discipline”, the same number as in the word “responsibility.” Both traits depend solely on you.

The Great Ones embrace discipline as a friend and ally, and watch their thoughts, words and actions with great care.  As Aristotle once professed: “We are, what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an act, but a habit.”

Author and international speaker, Ridgely Goldsborough, known in the Hispanic market as Richeli, has spent the last 20 years as an expert in personal growth and development. Much like Napoleon Hill did in the early part of the last century, Ridgely has interviewed titans of business and industry in person, for his television show and on the radio. Based on the principles learned from these interviews and his own personal journey, Ridgely continues to write books and create audio and video programs to help us all on our journey to success. Please visit aviewfromtheridge.com for more information